BTU has a very complex, distinct, and unique faction & ranking system. In fact, I have yet to find another Battletech-related forum that comes close to matching the dynamic system we have in place! Registered members can request to join a Battletech faction. Now to clarify the word for you, faction in this case refers to any organized unit, team, society, or civilization in Battletech. Clan Ghost Bear is as much of a faction as the Draconis Combine or the Marian Hegemony. The Gray Death Legion or Kell Hounds, mercenary units, are also factions. We allow any organized unit that has been created within the Battletech Universe to be a faction.

Each faction has its own ranking system of course. When you choose a given faction, you are automatically a part of their ranking heirarchy. If you are a brand new member, you will start at ground zero. If you've been here a while and have posted, you may be assigned a rank a few steps up the food chain. Basically, your rank is determined by your post count. The more you post, the higher you increase in rank. But its not easy. Some factions, like the Lyran Commonwealth, have a LOT of individual levels of command. To reach the highest level in the LC, Archon, it takes 2500 posts. In most cases, each rank in each faction is spaced evenly apart as much as could be done. Some factions have much less individual ranks than others. The Clans, for example, have usually only half as many ranks as LC does.

Gaining rank is different for each faction (though some may be identical). 25 posts may be all it takes to get you to the next level. Sometimes 100 or more is required. In most of the senior ranks, it can take several hundred posts to reach the next rank. Just like the real world, making rank aint always easy! For any given faction, despite the number of ranks it contains, it will take anywhere from 1500 to 2500 posts to reach the most senior rank. This helps make it fun so that everyone doesn't "max out" their ranks after the first month.

The legend of the Phoenix has endured through the millennia of human history. The image of the majestic Phoenix being consumed by fire and being re-born, rising anew from the ashes of its own funeral pyre is familiar to many cultures. The BattleTech community suffered a terrible blow when the FASA Corporation was forced out of business in early 2001. Our beloved game and universe had met its end.

However, the end was not to be. Rising like a Phoenix from the ashes of FASA’s demise, FanPro and WizKids breathed new life into the game of BattleTech and a new vibrant era began for fans around the world.

The FanSite, BattleTechUniverse, has sought to promote and encourage the continued development and expansion of the world of BattleTech among fans, as well as supporting official BattleTech sites and projects. BattletechUniverse is continuously engaged in numerous projects that support the community and widen its support and visibility. As a result, a lot of expense is incurred. Therefore, the addition of financial support is highly valued.

To commend those BattleTech fans that give additional support to the BattleTech community through their financial contributions to BattleTechUniverse, the organization of the Knights of the Phoenix was created as an honorary status and position for such service, and are bestowed with the title of Knight.